Clinical Education Director Cynthia Edwards, RN, was honored with the DAISY Champion Award at Sarah Bush Lincoln on August 2.
The DAISY Champion Award recognizes and celebrates individuals who provide extraordinary support of the DAISY Award program at their institutions.
Edwards was recognized for her tireless efforts to recognize nurses and for helping to lead the implementation of the DAISY program at Sarah Bush Lincoln. She has coordinated the program since it was first launched at the Health Center in June 2016. Edwards goes out of her way to make the DAISY Award presentations personalized and special and to encourage, engage and recognize staff members.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by my nursing peers for bringing the DAISY Nurse program to Sarah Bush Lincoln,” Edwards said. “The program is not just one individual but an entire team who supports the DAISY Nurse program to make it a success.” Edwards is retiring at the end of the year after serving 44 years as a nurse, including 20 years at Sarah Bush Lincoln. SBL Nursing Excellence Coordinator Jamie Easton, RN, will take over as chairman of the DAISY committee.
Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of the DAISY Award, recorded a personal message for Edwards, which was played during a management team meeting at the Health Center prior to the award presentation. “We are grateful for your creativity, resourcefulness and persistence in bringing the DAISY program to life at Sarah Bush Lincoln,” Barnes told Edwards in the video message. During the presentation, Edwards received a certificate, a daisy floral bouquet and a unique, hand-carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, entitled, “A Healer’s Touch.”
The DAISY Award is a nationwide program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care delivered by nurses every day. The DAISY Award was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.
Patients, visitors, nurses, physicians and other employees may nominate a deserving nurse for The Daisy Award. Nomination forms are located at www.sarahbush.org and at all SBL clinics and on patient floors. The forms can be submitted to any Sarah Bush Lincoln staff member, or sent via email to daisy@sblhs.org or mail to Sarah Bush Lincoln, DAISY Nursing Award, 1000 Health Center Drive, Mattoon, IL 61938. For more information, contact SBL DAISY coordinator, Jamie Easton, RN, at (217) 238 -6255 or jeaston@sblhs.org.